The Journal
by Kataanglover138
Summary: Kataang Oneshot: Takes place about 1-2 weeks after the end of the show... Aang had been distant all day, mumbling to himself and keeping his distance from the group. He kept jotting down notes in a small notebook of sorts, which he seemed to think no one noticed. He was right, not one did notice, except for Katara.


**A/N: Just to let you know, this is my first piece of fanfic, but I've always enjoyed writing my own little short stories and what-not. I love A:tLA, and recently have been obsessed to no end :). Anyways, this takes place about 1-2 weeks after the end of the show, just so you know the time frame. It is all from Katara's perspective, having little interaction with any other characters except for Aang.**

**ENJOY**

xxx

Aang had been distant all day, mumbling to himself and keeping his distance from the group. He kept jotting down notes in a small notebook of sorts, which he seemed to think no one noticed. He was right, not one did notice, except for Katara.

She was worried about him. Aang had barely talked to her all day, and it was leaving her confused and heartbroken. Every time she asked him about it, he would simply deny that anything was going on. Nothing she said would get him to open up and talk to her.

Eventually, Katara decided to follow Aang as he wandered aimlessly around the palace for hours, trying to find anyway to discover exactly what was on his mind. Yet no matter how hard she tried, and how quietly she snuck up on him, she had no such luck. Even at dinner, where he sat across the table, only to stare at her the entire time, jotting down notes and mumbling to himself.

That night, she woke with a start. The crescent moon was high in the sky, and the stars shone brightly. Unable to fall back asleep after her sudden awakening, she became very curious and decided to attempt to find what was written inside hat notebook.

Walking across the hall, she was careful not to allow any sound to creak from the floorboards below. Opening Aangs door just a small crack; she peered in to see him fast asleep. His heavy breathing and steady heartbeat confirmed her idea that he wouldn't wake any time soon. Gliding slowly along the back wall of the room, she made her way to his nightstand, believing that it would most likely be there.

Her belief was wrong. His nightstand was empty.

Creeping along she made her way to his bag left in the corner, along with his staff. Rustling through the bag she seemed to find nothing.

"Katara…?"

She jumped after hearing her name be spoken softly, breaking the silence. She slowly turned and stood, facing the bed where the sound came from, only to see that Aang was still fast asleep. He turned over and continued to mumble incoherently in his sleep. Katara was stopped and waited for the mumbling to stop and Aangs breathing to slow again. _He must be having a powerful dream, _she thought, _because he never talks in his sleep. _

Sighing and deciding her attempts to find the journal were futile, Katara slowly walked to the door, only to stop when she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. The corner of the journal could be seen peeking out from underneath a pillow; the same pillow that Aang was currently sleeping on.

Looking over at the peaceful Avatar, Katara couldn't bring herself to possibly disrupt his sleep. She turned and left, the idea of the journal weighing heavy on her mind. Sighing as she crawled back into her own bed across the hall, she couldn't keep her thoughts from the idea of what could possibly be in that journal. A restless sleep overtook her far faster than she was expecting.

The next day however, was not much better. Aang still chose to distance himself from the group. No large or important meetings were held about the future of the world just yet, as the dignitaries from the other nations were still making their way to the Fire Nation Palace. He seemed to be ignoring Katara, choosing to hide himself away in his room, or out on the main balcony for much meditation. Only just after dinner did she see the journal again, and she did not like it. Only after Aang chose to go to bed much earlier than anyone else did Katara ask anyone if they thought anything of the situation. Her brother Sokka only responded with a _"He's just still in a daze from battling the Fire lord, I mean wouldn't you want a few days of peace and quiet after something like that?"_, and Toph and Zuko both answered with a similar response.

Lying in bed that night she couldn't bring herself to take her thoughts away from it_. Aang had been so happy just a few days ago, what with the war over and our official relationship. Yet suddenly he finds the need to be alone all the time, his only company being that stupid journal! Why does he do this to me? Why won't he talk to me and tell me what is on his mind? I hate seeing him like this, it's worse than during his time of panic before the invasion. How am I supposed to help if he won't tell me what is wrong. I just have to find out what is written in that journal. _And with that, she rose from her bed and headed to his room for the second night in a row. Only this time, she knew exactly where the thing she was looking for was located.

Silently heading straight for his bed, she studied his sleeping form. Just as the night before, he was deep in sleep, heavy breathing and a slow heartbeat. At first, she made her way over to the edge of the bed and wondered if he would have kept it in the same place, but she pushed this from her mind, knowing that Aang was a creature of habit. He would not have changed its location unless he knew someone was looking for it.

Reaching her hand under the edge of the pillow, Katara felt nothing and only chose to mover her hand farther, until she was just past her elbow. Her fingers felt the edged of the hard cover, but it was just out of reach. Pushing farther, she suddenly notice how close her face was to his, the sleeping boy so peaceful looking in the moonlight. Blushing slightly, she fought hard to both resist the urge to kiss him, while simultaneously tugging at the book with her fingertips.

Eventually, she was able to slowly pull the book from under Aangs pillow without waking him. A silent "_YES!" _crossed her mind, and she quickly scurried across the hall to her own room. Pausing as she sat on her bed holding the precious book, Katara's mind filled with thoughts of invasion of his privacy and personal space. She pushed the thoughts from her mind, telling herself that she would only read enough to find out what was bothering Aang so much.

Opening the book, the first page was blank, with only a small heart drawn in the upper right corner. The next had the phrase _"how to tell her" _followed by a small drawing of the water tribe symbol. Katara's heart quickened as she already knew he was writing about her, yet she read further, wanting to know what it was that was so important. The next few pages were full of small sketches here and there, as well as a few words scribbled around them such as _"love", "show", kiss", and "bend". _The most recent page was filled with many paragraphs.

"_I don't know what to do or how to tell her, to show her how I feel. I love her so much, and she has no idea. I mean, yes, we are dating, and we've kissed, but it's not enough. I know she doesn't feel the same way. She may like me, I mean I would hope so considering we're dating, but there is now way she would ever match my love for her. I've loved her since the day I saw her after freeing me from the iceberg, and my love has grown every day ever since. I love her more than anything in this world. I love her more than the stars in the sky, and more than all the elements combined throughout the world. I love her more than life itself. But how do I tell her this without ruining what we have. I want her to know so badly it's killing me, yet the thought of having her run away for fear of-". _Katara's thoughts were shaken by the creak of her door opening.

She quickly hid the book under the blanket draped over her lap and turned towards the person in the doorway. The light hid his face, yet she immediately knew who it was, for she would know him anywhere.

"Aang, I-" Her words we cut short by his.

"I know you've read it, who else would have?" he stated flatly. Katara could hear no emotion in his voice; it was dull and very depressing to her ears.

"I just wanted to know why you've been so distant; I needed to know why you couldn't talk to me." She responded, pulling back the covers and sliding off of the bed to walk towards him. She reached out to touch his shoulder, but he flinched ever so slightly, just enough to stay out of reach.

"Well now you know. You can go run now, leave so you don't have to worry about me smothering you or being an overly committed little boy who knows nothing of love." He turned to leave, but she caught his hand and brought his face towards hers, finally being able to see it in the dim lighting. It held a hurt expression, one of withdrawal and self-hatred.

Before he could turn away again, she intertwined their hands, reaching the other to touch his cheek. Without a moment's thought, she kissed him. A soft, knowing kiss; short, but full of passion and love. "I am not going to run away. I love you. I love you more than you think, much, much more. I'm just not nearly as good at showing it as you are…" She paused letting the information sink into his mind.

After a moment, his expression changed. It now was one of both relief and excitement. He wrapped his strong arms around her waist and brought her as close to him as possible, pulling her into a forceful kiss. She replied by reaching her arms to wrap around his neck and using her hand to push at his neck, bring him even closer to her. The continued like this for what seemed like eons, neither wanting to break. Eventually, both pulled away simultaneously, finding the need for air just a little too great. Panting, foreheads together, he whispered "I love you… more than anything", then reaching to place another soft, slow kiss.

Her response: "I love you too Aang, more than you will ever know".

Xxx

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed it! Please rate and review about pretty much anything. All advice is appreciated!**


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